Mezzaluna is back!! That is - back in Nişantaşı!!!

Dear readers,

Didn't I tell you just a little while ago that I would try to make up for my "lack of posts" in the past few weeks with back to back posts? Well, I'm keeping my promise! The reason I can do this is because I have some time on my hands and I love writing for myself instead of writing or translating for others. I finished all the projects I had on Sunday and now I'm between "freelance" work for the first time this year! The "break" will not be that long so I want to make up for lost time - not only in writing in my blog, but socializing as well and have made back to back plans to go out with my friends - to familar venues as well as a newcomer to Istanbul (don't want to give it away yet!) which I will be writing about hopefully on Friday or Saturday...

Now to the post at hand...

Although I am no longer "officially" in the media world and at the helm of a magazine and instead prepare a blog... I am fortunate that many PR firms have not forgotten me and invite me to different functions (wine tastings, new openings, etc.) from time to time and then I write about these places too IF I feel it's worth it and fortunately, all have been worth it - so far!

At the beginning of November, I got an invitation to attend a small gathering of journalists  to taste some of the new goodies at the "new" Mezzaluna in Nişantaşı, which I happily agreed to!

By all means, Mezzaluna is not "new" to me! In fact, I have been a customer of this lovely Italian restaurant since 1996 (it opened in 1995)! A little history first... back in the 1990s and until the mid 2000s, Mezzaluna was located on Abdi Ipekçi Street - now the trendiest street  in fashionable Nişantaşı (not that it was that fashionable back in the 1990s - nothing like the explosion it's experiencing today!). There were much much less places to go to back then and the "trendy" Turks in those days would first go to Biber Bar (Biber has been back for the last few years too after a long hiatus and once again on Abdi Ipekçi Street, a few doors down from original place, but much larger) for drinks and at around 10pm, most would go to Mezzaluna which was only a few steps away for dinner! I was part of that crowd and we would stop by at least a couple of times a week! Then, Papermoon opened and we would switch up and visit both places before heading to Şamdan to dance the night away! Those were the days!

A very long story short, Mezzaluna closed at its old spot a few years ago because of landlord issues - of course, everyone was very sad because the food, crowd, etc. were always above par! Although it was very big (two floors), it was usually very difficult getting a table...

Mezzaluna didn't go away for good obviously.. they have branches around the city and a few years ago also opened a Mezzaluna Express at Kanyon and recently at Buyaka Shopping Mall on the Asian side of the city. Mezzaluna also has branches in Ankara and Izmir too. 

Then... Mezzaluna moved back to Nişantaşı in the latter part of this year and opened on Mim Kemal Öke Street, a street that is now a major rival to Abdi Ipekçi with great restaurants lined up just like it's "sister" street.

Mezzaluna Ristorante

However, "this" Mezzaluna is different than the others... that is it's traditional decor and menu.

Mezzaluna Ristorante

Unfortunately, since I was too busy concentrating on the food, I didn't take more pictures of the venue itself... but like I said, the decor is different and it is only on one floor with indoor and outdoor areas, but definitely much smaller than the "original" space.

So, on November 6th, I attended a tasting of what the chef called his "La Collezione Dello Chef" with a small group of journalists and owner Cihan Bingöl who I've had a chance to meet and know for about 6-7 years now, and it had been a long time since I had seen him, so we had a chance to catch up too.

The "Chef di Cucina" of Mezzaluna is Carmine Antonio Lombardi who is no stranger to Istanbul and someone I met many many years ago when he was the chef at Armani Cafe in Nişantaşı (which has long since moved to IstinyePark).

Chef Lombardi prepared a "small" menu for us which included 3 cold and 4 hot appetizers, 1 main course and 3 (yes 3!!!) desserts! I guess as you might imagine, I rolled out of Mezzaluna that evening although we did share the majority of the dishes!

If I try to list everything we ate, it would just take up too much time and space and get really boring, so I will give highlights and will give you info on my personal favorites. Not all of the dishes were "great" or "fantastic" and if I said anything differently it would be a lie. Also, the purpose of the tasting was to get our opinion on some "new" items that they added to the menu or plan on adding, so we had to be honest!

Below is a sample of my personal favorites...

1) Burrata con verdura grigliate

This is a great starter if you want something light and plan on having pasta or a main course afterwards. The fresh burrata cheese (type of mozzarella) was homemade and delicious and the grilled veggies were cooked just right - al dente and drizzled with quality olive oil.

2) Antipasto sul tagliere

I think this dish pretty much speaks for itself! The quality of the proscuitto, breasola, salami and mozarella was very good... the mini shrimp cocktails were great, the fried sardines and pate complemented the dish too... great for sharing!

As a sidebar.. we were served Gavi 2009 La Scolca (Villa Scolca, Piemonte) with the cold appetizers. I'm "weak" in my knowledge of Italian wines (prefer French, California and Turkish), but did enjoy this crisp white wine (forgot to take a picture of the bottle to share)

3) Conchiglie al pesto di rucola

Conchiglie is a type of shell pasta and if you like arugula and pesto sauce, then you will really enjoy this dish! Just like I did!

4) Gnocchi con cozze e borlotti

I loved this dish! Homemade gnocchi with black mussels from Çanakkale and pinto or borlotti beans...

Side bar... we were served Viognier 2010 (McManis, California) wine (which was quite good with a little more body and finish than the first wine) with the hot appetizers, but as you can see... I opted to drink red wine with this particular dish as it needed an extra "kick"!

5) Ossobuco con risotto alla Milanese

This was our main course and I did enjoy the Veal Shank which was cooked for about 4 hours, but I wasn't crazy about the saffron risotto which was a little too strong as saffron is a strong taste and not for everyone.

Side bar... this dish was served with Barolo 2006 Serralunga d'Alba (Fontana Fredda, Piemonte) which was a very good full bodied red wine with a long finish...although I wasn't crazy abut the design of the label!

6) Ricotta con miele di castagne

Of the three desserts we were offered (pumpkin cheese cake - a little dry; crema caramellata - not crazy about butterscotch pudding), this was my favorite as it was very light and I do love ricotta cheese and this was homemade buffalo milk ricotta cheese accompained with chestnut honey and usually served with fresh strawberries, but I'm allergic, so mine was served plain!

Side bar: we were also served a choice of homemade walnut liqueur (Nocino) and Mandarincello (green mandarins) and I preferred the walnut liqueur.

So, we have now come to the conclusion of our meal at Mezzaluna Ristorante! I would like to thank Chef Lombardi for his wonderful dishes and Cihan for inviting us to try different tastes from the Italian kitchen...

Stop by for lunch or dinner if in the neighborhood... you won't be disappointed and Mezzaluna is also known for its brick oven pizzas which are also worth tasting!

Buon appetito!

Mezzaluna Ristorante
Mim Kemal Öke Street No. 21
Tel: (0212) 231 31 42
www.mezzaluna.com.tr (only available in Turkish)

Stay well!

Dani

Incirli Şaraphane, Kydonia & La Mancha: The new "three musketeers" of the Bosphorus Shoreline!

Dear readers,

It is said that one of the most important rules of blogging and to have people keep on coming back to read what you've written is to make sure you steadily keep up with your writing and not have too many gaps in-between posts! Of course, it's also important that you have something to say that's of interest that you can share with others. Unfortunately, I haven't been up to snuff when it comes to rule 1, but be rest assured I have TONS of things to write about, but lack time! My dream and hope is that one day I will have enough money so that I don't have to work and be "independently wealthy" so that I can devote my time to writing (my blogs and maybe a book) and travelling! But, since I don't see something like that happening any time soon (that is having lots of money - I always find some time to travel) and I have to work for a  living - I will have gaps between posts, but I hope I can make it up to you by writing about interesting topics about my experiences in Istanbul, other parts of Turkey,the world and any other subject that I can think of to write about!! 

I will start off by writing about an event I attended last night. So, here goes! That is... after I give a small break now to take out Luka for a walk because he's standing in front of me and licking my hands while I'm typing and saying "mom, it's time for my afternoon walk!!"... and now has started to bark feverishly! Happy reading!!

Several weeks ago I had received a phone call from Aslı Durukan Pasinli (owner of Banyan Restaurant) to let me know that the wine house ++ places she was planning on opening had in fact had a soft opening and asked me to stop by. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to take her up on her offer immediately, but then I got an invitation to the opening night cocktail party for Incirli Şaraphane (Wine House in Turkish) which was last night (November 19, 2012)!

Incirli Şaraphane

Conveniently located right off the main street (Muallim Naci Street) in Kuruçeşme along the Bosphorus waterfront and right across the street from the lovely and luxurious Les Ottomans Boutique Hotel (Jennifer Lopez just stayed there when she gave 3 concerts in Istanbul this past week), the reason I wrote "++" above is that the besides the Incirli Şaraphane which is located on the main level of the beautifully restored building, there are also two restaurants: Kydonia and La Mancha (more on them later).

I arrived at around 7:00pm and there were already about 100 people there! Turks are notorious  for arriving at parties before the start  time (in this case 7pm). The spacious wine house with high ceilings includes most (but not all) of the major Turkish wines (yes, only Turkish which is great). I don't want to start mentioning names because that wouldn't be fair as I can't list them all, but use your imagination! The "big" guys and the smaller "boutique" guys all have stands in varying sizes where we had an opportunity to taste a few of the wines they sell (obviously not the more expensive ones!).

There is a very nice area in the back of the wine house where you can sip your wine and have some cheese or you can also sit outside (all year round)

Incirli Şaraphane (interior)

Incirli Şaraphane (outdoor terrace)

Now, here's the best part... you can sip your wine at the wine house, buy by the bottle and take home or select a bottle to have with your dinner at one of the restaurants upstairs... and all the prices are lower than at other restaurants! And... more importantly, you will have a chance to try and taste many Turkish wines that are not sold at restaurants or supermarkets for varying reasons!

Incirli Şaraphane

Incirli Şaraphane doesn't have a website yet, but I'm sure it's in the works, so in the meantime for more info you can call Tel: (0212) 257 11 29.

Now, let me briefly give you info on the "++" places I mentioned above... I haven't eaten at either one yet so I can only comment on the decor and ambiance...

One flight above from Incirli Şaraphane is Kydonia...



Kydonia "meze" selections

Kydonia

I loved the decor, ambiance and spaciousness of Kydonia... not to mention the view! Kydonia is a newcomer to Istanbul, but has been open in Alaçatı, Çeşme (a resort town about 40 minutes from Izmir) for about 3 seasons now (only open during the summer months) at the Port Alaçatı Marina. The restaurant specializes in Aegean/Mediterranean style "meze" (appetizers) and "balık" (seafood). I've eaten at the branch in Alaçatı and loved the meze selections, but didn't get around to eating any fish and I'm sure this branch will be just as good! You can select your 'meze' and 'balık' from the menu or from the display counters....

Kydonia "balık" display

Kydonia does have a website (www.kydonia.com.tr) if you want more info, but it's only available in Turkish and for reservations you can call Tel: (0212) 257 11 31-32

Now, we will visit the top floor or La Mancha! Before I go on, I want to let you know that you don't have to walk from floor to floor ... there's an elevator - how cool and thoughtful is that!

My first impression was WOW when I got off the elevator at La Mancha! The dining room is so warm and inviting with it's decor and soft lighting... and the huge terrace bar (outdoor so you can smoke if so inclined, and I was!) offers a magnificent view of the Bosphorus and Asian shoreline...

La Mancha

La Mancha Terrace Bar

View from La Mancha Terrace BAr

As you must have guessed from the restaurant's name, La Mancha was inspired by the Mediterranean region and the menu includes Spanish, Italian and Moroccan cuisines. The menu was quite large and I didn't get a chance to review it, but I did find out that Spanish deli meats, Italian cheeses and more are also on the menu as you can see by the display counter!

La Mancha "Deli and Cheese" counter display

La Mancha has a website, but once again it's only in Turkish: www.lamancha.com.tr For reservations, you can call Tel: (0212) 257 11 44-45.

After my tour of the entire place to take pictures, I headed back downstairs to Incirli Şaraphane where I tested a couple of more wines and then headed back upstairs to La Mancha's terrace bar to wait for my sister to arrive and where we hung out for the rest of the evening... and let me tell you, it was packed! There wasn't an empty table at La Mancha and by the looks of it, everyone was enjoying their meal. The bar was also full, but we were lucky and sat on the bar stools instead of standing.

Since I didn't go into a "wine tasting" frenzy, I was still standing when my sister and I left.
I had a lovely evening last night and I fell in love with the new "three musketeers" of the Bosphorus shoreline in Kuruçeşme and can't wait to go back and try the food! Aslı said she would invite me for a "special tasting" (am I a lucky dog or what!)

While you're reading this post, I'm going to start on my next one... once again a "foodie" article, but this time I ate!



"me" at entrance to Incirli Şaraphane

Stay well!

Dani

Lucca: Great Food, Fantastic Cheer & Super Company Adds New Goodies to Food & Cocktail Menus

Dear readers,

Sorry to have had to take another long break between posts, but between work and getting my apartment painted, I can't believe that a month has gone by!

Although I'm still very busy and clients are waiting for their projects, I had to take a "ME" break and just write for myself! I truly do wish that one day I will have enough money to NOT work and just write posts for my blog!!! I can dream can't I???

Anyway... on to the business at hand! Last week Friday, I received an email from İlknur, who works at Kiraz PR firm and she invited me to a "tasting" at Lucca - MY ALL TIME FAVORITE cafe, restaurant and bar! I was thrilled because Lucca is my "home" and I have been a regular since it literally burst onto the scene in the lovely Bebek neighborhood in Istanbul in 2004 and hasnt looked back!

I can comfortably say that no other restaurant, cafe and bar has been able to meet my standards in Istanbul to surpass my affection for Lucca! I love the setting, I love the hominess, quality of the food and drinks and also, and very important as well, the excellent service provided by Lucca's very friendly, expert and long time staff - not to forget the owner Cem Mirap and managers Turgay and Bahadır of course! There's some major teamwork going on at Lucca which further adds to their success! 

So, the tasting was scheduled for yesterday - October 16, between 5:00pm and 7:00pm and İlknur informed me that a couple of other bloggers/internet magazine editors were invited.

As usual... I arrived early - around 4:30pm... any excuse to hang out at Lucca as I have been so busy and hadn't had a chance to visit in a while! The tasting didn't start at 5:00pm as planned - most Turkish journalists are not known for being prompt, but that was just fine with me! In the meantime, Cevat Yıldırım, Lucca's head bartender offered me a sample of one of the new cocktails that are being added to the menu for the new season! Although the new menu is not out yet, all of the cocktails I've mentioned here can be ordered right now. The dishes will most likely be available at the beginning of November right after the Sacrifice of the Feast Holiday which is next week.

Prosecco and "aperol"

This cocktail is a "knock-off" and Cevat's version of prosecco and aperol - a very common apertif in Italy. Since aperol is not imported to Istanbul, he prepared his own version and it is lighter in color and with more of a bite with orange flavors and peel.

Afterwards, I caught up a bit with Cem Mirap - the owner and brainchild behind Lucca, but this time I forgot to ask him to see new photos of his precious twins!

Me (left) and Cem Mirap (right)

Unfortunately Cem was unable to join us during the tasting due to his hectic schedule.

Then... we moved over to our table to start our tasting with Pelin Çakar - the smart, spirited and knowledgeable Kitchen Coordinator/chef at Lucca!

Pelin Çakar (Lucca Kitchen Coordinator)

Actually Pelin doesn't get much chance to spend time in the kitchen except the mornings when she preps the kitchen and staff because she is also responsible for the overall coordination of the kitchen activities, purchases, menu preparations - in other words, you name it!

We started off our tasting with some of the dishes  that are currently on the menu to include grilled fresh asparagus with parmesan cheese shavings, fresh asparagus puree and fresh mozarella cheese.

Fresh Mozzarella Cheese



Fresh asparagus puree

 

 As asparagus will be out of season shortly, these dishes will be taken off the menu and fresh artichoke puree will be added instead. In either case, if you like these vegetables, you will definitely enjoy these dishes in season! As far as the mozzarella cheese goes, it is a different kind of fresh cheese which is soft in the center (can't remember the technical name) and has to be consumed 1-2 days from purchase... it's the first time I was tasting this cheese at Lucca and loved it ... but have been eating the asparagus dishes quite often! 

While we were enjoying these regular treats from the menu... Cevat served us another one of his new creations... gin flavored with lemon and  lemon zest....Since gin and I haven't been "friends" for over 20 years, I did taste it - it was excellent and refreshing... but didn't want to push my luck!

Gin flavored with lemon and  lemon zest

As we were chatting with Pelin, I mentioned that in all the years that I've been a regular at Lucca, I NEVER ordered a salad because all the appetizers and main courses are sooo good! To make sure, I didn't miss out on this treat... she ordered the smoked salmon salad for all of us to taste... and may I say - I will definitely be ordering this salad!



Smoked Salmon Salad

First, the smoked salmon's taste and texture was incredible and she informed me that they recently changed suppliers and the arugula, avocado and other salad greens were especially fresh and mouthwatering... a very light olive oil dressing  was added and cashews were scattered around the dish.

As it was now time to try just a few of the new goodies (we didn't taste all as it wouldn't be possible!), Cevat prepared a wonderful red wine sangria to accompany the samplers...

red wine sangria (yummy!)

First up among the new delights is.... Steak Tartare!

Steak Tartare

Steak Tartare is an acquired taste and might not be to everyone's liking and a dish not frequently found on the menus of restaurants in Istanbul. Furthermore, La Brise Brasserie (this venue will be another blog topic soon!) prepares the best Steak Tartare in Istanbul as far as I'm concerned. Lucca's version is also quite good and most importantly top quality meat was used and by just playing around with the seasonings as we discussed with Pelin, it will quickly become a hit with afficiandos of this dish!

On the more "casual" side... the next dish we tasted was mini hotdogs with a side of seasoned French fries...

Mini hotdogs with french fries

Although these bit-sized morsels were excellent and can easily compete with the mini hamburgers on their current menu, you won't see me ordering them unfortunately because I am on a perpetual diet and after working so hard to lose 10 kg - can't afford to tempt myself! The hearty white bread was specially prepared for Lucca for this dish and each is stuffed with caramelized onions, very spicy pepper sauce and a piece of lettuce.

Since we really weren't doing a food and cocktail pairing, the next drink that Cevat prepared for us was truly decadent and wicked: Pineapple Express!

Pineapple Express (totally wicked!)

 Pineapple Express as you might have guessed, is prepared with pineapples and smoked votka. Be very very careful if ordering this drink because it will definitely creep up on you!!

Now... on to the piece de résistance dish of the tasting: Duck Confit with teriyaki and ponzu sauce...

Duck Confit with teriyaki and ponzu sauce

I love duck and have eaten my share - both in Istanbul and in Paris! My all time favorite was the duck at D'Argent and I can defintely say that Lucca's is almost as good!!! The baby duck literally fell off the bone! Not only is the quality of the duck itself important, but also the cooking technique and Lucca has succeeded at both!

We tried one final drink before going onto dessert... Lucca's version of a Banana Daiquiri which includes of course bananas, drambuie and Havana Club rum...

Banana Daiquiri

Personally, I am not a major fan of mixed drinks and prefer to drink red wine and scotch from time to time... but I can definitely say that all these cocktails were very very good!

I have been mentioning Cevat's name left and right since the beginning of this article and here he is below with his night team... he has many long years of experience in the business and has also worked at major 5 star international hotels in Istanbul and has also won numerous awards at competitions.. and he also makes a mean votka martini - just the way I like it - very dry with 3 olives! Of course Kemal and Mehmet are also very good bartenders.

Kemal Soysal (left), Cevat Yıldırım (center), Mehmet Şahin (right)

After all the food we ate and the cocktails we drank, we still managed to have room for dessert! Desserts are also no-no's for me and I rarely order dessert at Lucca or any other venue for that matter... but this one was fresh and scrumptious: bitter almond ice cream topped with espresso! If you don't like espresso you don't need to add it to the ice cream, but when you do... the bitterness of the coffee and the sweetness of the ice cream are a great combo!

Bitter Almond Ice Cream and Espresso

Before wrapping up my post, I want to mention another cocktail which I had a chance to taste at the beginning of the evening before the tasting started... it is called "spritzzz" which is a sweet Italian aperatif... all you do is pour in the glass, add some ice and a piece of orange... excellent!

Still on the subject of alcohol, I asked Cevat if there were going to be changes made to the  wine list and he informed me that he has some new suprises that will be added to both the wine list by the bottle and by the glass. He did however tell me that Barbare wines, an up and coming Turkish wine producer using organic grapes (my favorite is Elegance which will be on the wine list by the bottle and another red wine by the glass) will be added to the repertoire.

Finally, I thoroughly enjoyed myself at the casual and informal food and drink tasting at Lucca and I'm happy I have the chance to share the details on my favorite spot in the city wit my readers.

Lucca is open from noon to 2:00am on Monday and from 10:00am to 2:00am on all other days... breakfast treats are also served... Brunch on Sunday and my other favorites from their menu include  Shrimp and Duck Rolls, sushi platter, grilled salmon and köfte (Turkish style meatballs). Also, the prices at Lucca are not cheap, but they are modest compared to "like" venues and sometimes their prices are even lower!

As Lucca (www.luccastyle.com) is usually very crowded, I suggest you make reservations for dinner or even the peak lunch hours. Enjoy!

Photo supplied by Lucca

Now, it's time to get back to work... I feel refreshed! Also, after such a feast last night, I only had a light breakfast and now that it's almost 6:30pm,  I best have a light early dinner before I pass out!

Till the next time....

Dani